DNA-SHARING SERVICES AND PRIVACY

    Montreal Gazette: The use of a genealogy website to track down a suspected California serial killer illustrates both the extraordinary power of DNA-sharing services and the broad privacy concerns that surround the fast-growing commercial market for genetic analysis.
    TV commercials for companies such as 23andMe and Ancestry.com pitch their services as simple and fun ways of learning about family heritage and health. And while those companies on Friday sought to distance themselves from the free GEDmatch website used by police, the California case exposed broader questions about what happens after consumers mail their saliva away for DNA analysis and upload the results to the internet.
   “For those of us who were skeptical about turning over our genetic information to corporations, this case proved all of those fears true,” said Daniel De Simone, a New Jersey researcher whose relatives have used DNA services.